MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ TRUONG THI QUYNH TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHER STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DEVELOPING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE FOR EFL LEARNERS AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ------------ TRUONG THI QUYNH TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHER STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DEVELOPING PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE FOR EFL LEARNERS AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60. PHAM THI HONG NHUNG HUE, 2016 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ------------ TRƯƠNG THỊ QUỲNH TRANG KHẢO SÁT NHẬN THỨC VỀ PHÁT TRIỂN TRI NĂNG NGỮ DỤNG CHO NGƯỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG HUẾ, 2016 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Date: / / 2016 Signature Truong Thi Quynh Trang iii ABSTRACT This study investigates EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of developing pragmatic competence for EFL learners at Hue University of Foreign Languages. It was carried out in order to collect information about EFL teacher students‘ perspectives of pragmatic competence, of its significance and the importance of developing pragmatic competence for EFL learners as well as their views and understanding of methods that can be used to develop pragmatic competence development for their future EFL learners. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used in this study. In order to collect the data for the research, 100 fourth year teacher students from Hue University of Foreign Languages were invited to take part inthe study.
Questionnaire and interview were used as data collection tools. The results from the questionnaires were affirmed through interviews with open questions for 20 selected students. Results from the data analysis have shown that the students were partially aware of the important role of pragmatic competence in communication. However, the perception of pragmatic competence was not complete and they found that they mostly could not apply this knowledge in real life communication.
Besides, the study also found that students considered task-based activities and usage of authentic materials as being most essential methods to develop pragmatic competence. From the findings of the study, some pedagogical implications were made to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning, especially pragmatic competence development for English language students. iv Acknowledgements I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to a number of people, without whose support and involvement, this thesis would not have been completed. Firstly, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Assoc.Dr, Pham Thi Hong Nhung, for her continuous support, encouragement, patience, dedication and critical comments throughout the course of writing this thesis.
Secondly, I would like to thank my close friends in MA course at Hue University of Foreign Languages for their enthusiasm and kindness to me. The data collection for my thesis would not be possible without the willing participation of the fourth-year teacher students at Hue University of Foreign Languages. I greatly appreciate their generosity with their time and efforts in filling the questionnaire and cooperating in my interviews Last but not least, my gratitude is extended to my family for their endless love and continuous encouragement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages Statement of originality .v Table of contents.
vi List of abbreviations. ix List of tables .x List of figures. Background of the study. Rationale of the study.
Definitions of key terms. Illocutionary competence and Sociolinguistic competence. The significance of pragmatic competence for EFL learners. The need for pragmatic competence instruction in EFL classrooms.
Development of pragmatic competence for EFL learners. Development levels of pragmatic competence of L2 learners. Teacher‘s roles in EFL learner‘s pragmatic competence development. Challenges of pragmatic competence development in EFL classrooms 18 vi 2.
Methods for enhancing EFL learners‘ pragmatic competence. Raising learners‘ pragmatic awareness. Practicing learners‘ L2 communicative abilities. Previous relevant studies.
Studies in Vietnam. Data collection methods. Data collection instruments. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of pragmatic competence and its significance. EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of pragmatic competence. EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of pragmatic competence significance. EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of methods to develop pragmatic competence for EFL learners.
EFL teacher students‘ understanding of factors which may lead to EFL learners‘ pragmatic failure. EFL teacher students‘ understandings of methods to develop pragmatic competence for EFL learners. Summary of the major findings. Implications for English language education.
For EFL students. For EFL teachers. For EFL teacher trainers. For EFL methodology book writers.
Limitations of the study. Recommendations for further research .57 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching Approach EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching L1: First Language L2: Second Language MOET: Ministry of Education and Training ix LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Summary of the questionnaire .1: Teacher students‘ views on the role of the pragmatic competence in the overall communicative competence .2: Teacher students‘ perceptions on the purpose of pragmatic competence instruction in EFL classrooms .3: Teacher students‘ understanding of factors leading to EFL learners‘ pragmatic failure .4: Methods to develop pragmatic competence for EFL learners .44 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Teacher students‘ understanding of of pragmatic competence– its definition .2: The level of successful provision of instances of English pragmatic incompetence .3: Teacher students‘ perceptions of the importance of developing pragmatic competence for English language learners.4: Teacher students‘ perceptions of the need for EFL teachers to have pragmatic competence .40 xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Background of the study In Vietnam, the traditional grammar-translation method has prevailed for a long time in English teaching and the focus of it has been on reading skill. A change in direction was observed to have taken place in 1966 with the introduction of a series of English textbooks that adopted a combination of the translation method, the aural-oral approach and the situational method.
However, more recent developments provide a different perspective on ELT in Vietnam. That is―to learn a foreign language in order to use it for communicative purposes, as is now the declared aim of the Vietnamese education authorities, the learner needs to develop not only linguistic competence but also communicative and social competence in the language‖(Tran, 1991, p. This is the reason why students graduating from high schools expected to be able to conduct normal conversations with regard to some simple topics, for example, relating to daily life. Unfortunately, despite various efforts such as curriculum innovations, professional development, opportunities like seminars and workshops, after formal English education, most students still cannot communicate in English effectively (MOET‘s National Report, 2011).
Thus, it would appear that the primary objectives of the new English syllabus with the application of the communicative approach prescribed by Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training are largely unfulfilled. It is true that the main emphasis of the communicative approach is to develop the learners' communicative competence through the "negotiation of meaning". The communicative classroom seeks to encourage learners to initiate and participate actively in meaningful interaction. Because of such a significant value, how to develop learners' communicative competence in English has been becoming a concerning matter of many teachers of English in Vietnam.
1 Bachman(1990) confirms that in order to be successful in communication, second language learners must master pragmatic aspects of the target language besides grammar and text organization. Moreover, language learning has shifted from a grammatical perspective to a communicative perspective that emphasizes understanding and appropriate use of language in communicative contexts. In intercultural communication, it is said that EFL learners and speakers not only need to know the form to achieve linguistic accuracy but also need to internalize sociolinguistic rules to use the linguistic forms appropriately. Thus, EFL teachers need to be aware of the significance of developing pragmatic competence for their learners, so that EFL learners are able to communicate effectively in intercultural contexts.
Rationale of the study A lot of cross-cultural research on pragmatics in recent years has shown that in intercultural communication, the combination of sociolinguistic rules and linguistic forms is quite important for achievement of linguistic accuracy. That is the second language (L2) learners need to develop their pragmatic competence to be able to use the language they learn for an effective communication. A research into the pragmatics of L2 learners has proved that a student with advanced grammatical development does not necessarily have corresponding levels of pragmatic development (Bardovi & Dornyei, 1997). Furthermore, some studies addressing the realization of speech acts by L2 learners have found that even advanced language learners often face difficulties in comprehending a speaker‘s intention and conveying the appropriate politeness values in communicative contexts.
Therefore, one of the challenges in language teaching is how to instruct the culturally appropriate use of language that mostly relates to pragmatic competence enhancing instruction. Additionally, it seems that EFL teachers intensively focus on grammar during lessons as they may lack pragmatic awareness in the target language, or they have difficulty to put into practice the pragmatic knowledge they already possess. That is to say EFL teacher students as future EFL teachers should be aware of the 2 importance of developing pragmatic competence for EFL learners. On the one hand as an EFL learner, that awareness improves their communicative language competences, and on the other as a future EFL teacher, it helps them realize what and how they should teach to help their future students acquire the target language more effectively and successfully.
All of the above reasons inspire the researcher to study the topic “An investigation into EFL teacher students’ perceptions of developing pragmatic competence for EFL learners at Hue University of Foreign Languages”. Research aims This study is carried out for the following purposes: - To explore EFL teacher students‘ perspectives of pragmatic competence, of its significance and the importance of developing pragmatic competence for EFL learners - To examine their views and understanding of methods that can be used to develop pragmatic competence development for their future EFL learners 1. Research Questions The thesis seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What are EFL teacher students‘ perceptions of pragmatic competence and its significance? 2.
What are their views of methods to develop pragmatic competence for EFL learners? 1. Research significance This study will contribute to the understanding of how teacher students understand pragmatic competence, the value of pragmatic competence in EFL acquisition as well as their perceptions of methods which can be used todevelop EFL learners‘ pragmatic competence. The findings will provide foundations on which implications about how to help teacher students understand better the significance of pragmatic competence and measures which can be used to enhance their students‘ pragmatic competence in the future. Research organization This present research comprises of five chapters: Chapter I is the introduction.
This chapter first introducesthe background and rationale of the research. The aims of the research, research questions, significance of the study, and organization of the study are also presented. Chapter II is devoted to the literature review in which key terms, major theories and studies relevantto the study are reviewed. Chapter III presents research methodology, which describes the participants of the study, procedures of the research and instruments for data collection.